Manikin



M. A. WOLF May 16, w67

MANIKIN Filed July 2, 1965 vll:

United States Patent 3,319,848 MANIKIN Morris A. Woll", 7048 Macapa Drive, Los Angeles, Calif. 90028 Filed July 2, 1965, Ser. No. 469,117 3 Claims. (Cl. 223-72) The present invention relates generally to manikins and, more particularly, to a manikin for the display of trousers.

An object of my invention is to provide a trousers manikin or pantsform that can be dressed with either narrow-leg or wide-leg trousers.

Another object of the invention is to provide a trousers mainikin whose normal posture is that of a straddling stance, appropriate to the display of sports trousers or slacks, wherein the spacing of the straddled legs greatly exceeds the waistline circumference or girth of the trousers but which, nevertheless, can very readily be dressed and undressed by virtue of a novel adjustable relationship of the legs.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a pantsform having a means for adjustment as to leg length whereby to avoid the necessity of selecting a pair of trousers for display having precisely the correct in-seam length for the manikin in order to achieve the desired relationship between the cuff of the trousers and the foot of the manikin.

A further object of this invention is to provide a trousers manikin that is self-standing in that it does not require any external means of support.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a pantsform having detachable feet to facilitate dressing the manikin with trousers and dressing the feet with shoes.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a presently preferred embodiment thereof when taken in conjunction with the drawing.

FIGURE l is a perspective view of a pantsform embodying the invention, showing a portion of a pair of trousers on one side thereof and with a portion broken away to show interior details of construction;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional View of the manikin shown in FIGURE l, taken substantially on a plane through the hips and both legs of the manikin;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view, on a larger scale, of the crotch portion of the manikin indicated at the numeral 3 in FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view through one foot and a portion of a leg of the manikin, taken on the line 4 4 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view `on the line 5 5 of FIGURE 4, showing details of construction of a means for adjusting the length of the manikin legs;

FIGURE 6 is a sectional view on the line 6-6 of FIGURE 4, showing one means of mounting the feet of the manikin for angular movement.

Referring to the drawing, the manikin generally comprises a left leg 10, a right leg 11, a left foot 12, a right foot 13, and a cap 14. As is best seen in FIGURE 2, the left leg and foot 1t) and 12 are subtantially mirror images of the right leg and lfoot 11 and 13 and, closely simulate hip, leg and foot portions of the human anatomy, in this case the male anatomy. The desired normal stance of the manikin is most clearly shown in FIGURE l, comprising a straddling posture that is, preferably, though not necessarily, symmetrical and in which the feet 12 and 13 are spaced sidewardly beyond the hip portions of the manikin. This straddling stance is appropriate for the display of slacks but presents problems in dressing the manikin in view of the fact that the waist measurement of the trousers is very substantially less than can be accommodated by this straddling stance of the legs and the problem is further complicated when the manikin is to be dressed with narrow leg slacks, as for example the slacks 15, the right leg portion of which is shown in FIGURE 1.

The legs 10 and 11 are separate pieces but are held in assembled relationship by a means disposed at the crotch of the manikin, for example. Thus, the left leg 10 and the right leg 11 are formed with llat confronting wall portions 17 `and 18 which at their lower edges, at the crotch of the manikin are interconnected by a hinge or pivot means, which 4may take the form Ibest seen in FIGURE 3. Thus, the wall 17 at its lower edge is formed with :a generally horizontally extending semi-cylindrical boss 19 that projects outwardly from the wall 17 towards the leg 11. The lower edge of the wall 1S of the right leg 11 is formed with a generally horizontally disposed substantially semicylindrical concave recess 20 that matingly receives the boss 19. An elongated bolt 21 loosely extends through aligned bores 22 and 23 formed through the recess 20 and boss 19 and at one end threadedly receives a wing nut 24 on top of a washer 25 coaxially mounted on the bolt 21. The other end of the bolt 21 coaxially mounts a spring 26 between a head 27 of the bolt and another washer 28, the spring being under compression whereby the mating engagement of the boss 19 and socket 20 is securely maintained between the pair of washers 25 and 28.

The walls 17 and 18 preferably present at opposed surfaces that will abut on a plane of symmetry of the manikin, as indicated for example by the parting line 29 of FIGURE l, bisecting the crotch and buttocks of the manikin. When the walls 17 and 18 are in abutment, the legs 10 and 11 are disposed in the straddled position indicated in FIGURE 2, defining a substantial angle therebetween. This is the preferred normal stan-ce of the manikin and this angular relationship is normally maintained by means of the cap 14. This cap is an inverted cup-shaped member having a top wall 30 that is integrally formed with a depending skirt 31. The legs 10 and 11 are formed at their upper ends with shoulders 32 and 33, respectively, which dene a continuous shoulder adapted to receive the lower edge 34 of the cap 14 when the legs are spread apart with the walls 17 and 18 in abutment. The skirt 31 of the cap 14 thus closely embraces the shoulders 32 `and 33, preferably in a close frictional t, to maintain the desired straddled position of the legs. In order to prevent dislodgrnent of the cap 14, one of the legs 10 or 11, in this case, the leg 11, has a Z-shaped bracket 35, secured thereto by any suitable fastening means 36, in order to receive a iinial-headed screw 37 through an opening of the t-op 30 of the cap 14 in threaded engagement with a tapped bore in the flange at the upper end of the bracket 35.

Each of the feet 12 and 13 is detachable and -adjustably connected to the legs 10 and 11, respectively, by the means seen in FIGURES 4 through 6. As the same attachment means is utilized for both feet, but one will be described in detail.

Referring to FIGURE 4, the right foot 13 is seen to be of hollow construction (as is the rest of the manikin) closed at its upper end by an integrally formed wall 41. A tubular bushing 42, of circular cross-sectional conguration, is embedded in this wall 41 to serve as la plain bearing for a cylindrical portion 43 of an elongated rod 44. This rod has an upper end portion 45, protruding out of the bushing 42, that is sldably receivable in a sleeve 46 that is embedded in the lower end of the leg 11. This sleeve and the upper end portion 45 of the rod are of complementary rectangular cross-sectional configuration whereby the rod 44 is keyed against angular movement relative to the leg 11.

As is shown in FIGURE 5, one wall of the sleeve 46 is provided with a series of vertically spaced apart openings 47 while the upper end portion 45 of the rod internally mounts at least one ball 48 that is yieldably biased by a spring 49 to protrude -from the wall of the rod for yieldable engagement with one of the holes 47 of the sleeve 46. Thus, the extent to which the foot 13 extends beyond the lower end of the leg 11 is 4adjustable in accordance with the registration of a ball 48 with one of the holes 47 of the sleeve 46. Further, the foot 13 can be angularly moved inwardly or outwardly relative to the leg 11 by virtue of the plain bearing connection of the bushing 42 and cylindrical portion 43 of the rod 44.

For the purpose of stabilizing the manikin and adapting the feet to accommodate shoes of various heel heights, it is proveded with a screw means such as is shown in FIGURE 4. There, the foot 13 in a recess formed in the heel portion, is provided with a tapped fitting 50 that threadedly `receives a screw 51 that can be turned in and out of the fitting in order to achieve the correct adjustment.

In the use of the manikin, when it is desired to dress it with a pair of trousers, the iinial headed screw 37 is iirst removed from the Z bracket 35. Thereafter, the cap 14 can be lifted to release its engagement with the shoulders 32 and 33 in order to permit the str-addled legs to assume the approximately parallel position shown in phantom outline in FIGURE 2. After the feet 12 and 13 have been removed from the legs 10 and 11 respectively, simply by pulling the feet and their rods 44 out of the sleeves 46 of the legs, the slacks are put onto the parallel legs of the manikin. Thereafter, the legs and 11 are swung apart until the confronting walls 17 and 18 at the upper ends of the legs come into abutment. Then, the cap 14 is slipped into place until its lower edge 34 encircles the shoulders 32 and 33 and the screw 37 is then reinserted into the bracket 35. Shoes are then placed on the removed feet and the rod portion 45 of each foot rod 44 is then reinserted into the sleeve 46 of the corresponding leg to the desired distance. The screws 51 are adjusted in the heels of both feet before the shoes are put on them in order to give the manikin a slight forward tilt when it stands.

It will be observed that the posture or attitude of the legs of the manikin is not limited by the waistline measurement of the trousers with which the manikin is to be dressed. Thus, the straddling stance of the manikin, while considerably wider than could be encompassed by the waist of a pair of pants, is very easily reduced simply by removal of the cap and swinging the legs together. Further, the removability of both feet avoids any limitation as to the width of the trouser legs with which the manikin is to be dressed, andrthis advantage is realized whether the manikin has a straddling stance for the legs or a more conventional attitude in which the legs extend straight down from the hips.

It will also be seen that the manikin is not limited to one nominal size of pants length and there is no necessity for selecting a pair of trousers out of a group of the same nominal size having precisely the correct inseam length for the manikin. With this invention, variations in nominal inseam length and different nominal lengths are very easily accommodated simply by changing the extent to which the rod 44 of a foot is inserted into the corresponding sleeve 46 of the corresponding leg. Thus, the dresser can save time by using any pair of trousers of the correct nominal range of sizes for the manikin and, further, can extend the feet more or less in and out of the legs of the manikin so that the trouser leg will hang with a slight break at the cuff or no break, as desired.

The angular adjustment of the feet 12 or 13 relative to the legs 10 and 11, in combination with the adjustability of the heel screws 51, assists in balancing the manikin after it has been dressed whereby it can securely be left as a self-standing manikin.

It will also be -apparent that the invention may be utilized in a full-length manikin rather than merely in a half-length manikin as illustrated in the drawing. Thus, the cap 14 can be replaced by a -form that simulates the upper portion of the body.

Variations in the details of construction set forth above will undoubtedly occur to those skilled in the art. However, it is to be understood that I do not mean to be limited to such details but only by the spirit and scope of the following claims.

I claim: 1. In a manikin, the combination comprising: a pair of legs, each of which is integrally formed with a hip simulating portion;

means interconnecting said pair of legs in sidewardly swingable relationship to one another for changing the angle included between said legs whereby said legs can be moved between approximately parallel and angularly related positions; said hip simulating portions having confronting portions that abut one another to limit swinging apart of said legs to a predetermined angular relationship;

and a means for releasably interconnecting said pair of legs to hold them in said predetermined Iangular relationship.

2. A manikin as set forth in claim 1, in which said lastmentioned means comprises a separate member adapted to firmly encircle the upper ends of said hip simulating portions of said pair of legs when said legs are in said predetermined angular relationship.

3. In a manikin, the combination comprising:

a pair of legs, each of which is integrally formed with a hip simulating portion;

a means disposed substantially at the crotch of said pair of legs for interconnecting said legs on a substantially horizontal axis in sidewardly swingable relationship to one another for changing the angle included between said legs whereby said legs can be moved between approximately parallel and angularly related positions;

said hip simulating portions having confronting portions that abut one another to limit swinging apart of said legs to a predetermined angular relationship;

and a means for releasably interconnecting said pair of legs to hold them in said predetermined 4angular relationship.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 526,667 9/ 1894 Schultz 223-66 X 634,503 10/1899 Morrow 223-68 1,191,691 7/1916 Greenwald 223-68 1,284,436 11/1918 Palmenberg 223-68 2,867,362 1/1959 Bloch 223-120 3,113,707 12/1963 Wiston 223-72 FOREIGN PATENTS 787,908 10/ 1935 France. 990,746 9/1951 France.

PATRICK D. LAWSON, Primary Examiner.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Examiner.

G. V. LARKIN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN A MANIKIN, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING: A PAIR OF LEGS, EACH OF WHICH IS INTEGRALLY FORMED WITH A HIP SIMULATING PORTION; MEANS INTERCONNECTING SAID PAIR OF LEGS IN SIDEWARDLY SWINGABLE RELATIONSHIP TO ONE ANOTHER FOR CHANGING THE ANGLE INCLUDED BETWEEN SAID LEGS WHEREBY SAID LEGS CAN BE MOVED BETWEEN APPROXIMATELY PARALLEL AND ANGULARLY RELATED POSITIONS; SAID HIP SIMULATING PORTIONS HAVING CONFRONTING PORTIONS THAT ABUT ONE ANOTHER TO LIMIT SWINGING APART OF SAID LEGS TO A PREDETERMINED ANGULAR RELATIONSHIP; AND A MEANS FOR RELEASABLY INTERCONNECTING SAID PAIR OF LEGS TO HOLD THEM IN SAID PREDETERMINED ANGULAR RELATIONSHIP. 